


Unfair

by caraxreve



Category: Free!
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 03:59:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caraxreve/pseuds/caraxreve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stupid, horny, fluffy boys in love...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to Xime, for beta-ing this work :)!

“Sorry for the intrusion!”

It should’ve been a mere formality, but Aiichirou’s tone was far from casual and rather hesitant.

“It’s fine, Ai. How many times do I need to tell you, we’re not intruding. We’re supposed to be here.”

Rin placed the keys on the entryway’s table, and pushed the door closed.

“Well this is _your_ grandama’s house, and-”

“You’re my guest! You have as much right to be here as I do. Besides we’re actually helping my mom by being here, so feel at ease and make yourself at home.”

“O-Okay...” Aiichirou replied while removing his coat.

“You might want to keep your coat on, though.” Rin grinned “I still need to go downstairs to turn the heat on.”

Aiichirou pulled his coat back on with a weary pout.

“I don’t like wearing heavy clothing, it doesn’t let me move around comfortably.”

Rin chuckled at Aiichirou shaking his arms in frustration and smiled warmly.

“I won’t take long. I promise.”

“Good! Then, should I start making dinner? Would soup be okay?”

“ _Dinner_? Well, one thing is grandma not minding us being here but, setting the place on fire? I don’t know about that…”

“That was only one time,  Senpai! And I didn’t set the kitchen on fire; things just got a bit out of control…”

“It was pasta, Ai. You just had to boil water and place the thing inside.  Next thing I know, people are running up and down the hallways yelling about some 1st year trying to set the common room on fire!”

“I-It didn’t happen like that!”

“The spaghetti strands were _alight_.”

Aiichirou opened his mouth to say something, but ended up moping in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll just make us some tea then.”

“Hey, I’m just teasing you.” He laughed good naturedly and rested his hand over Aiichirou’s head. “There’s no need for you to go through all that trouble though. It was a long trip. Come here.”

 He walked them over to the fridge, and pulled out a couple of individual pizzas.

“Just put these on the microwave and we’ll eat them with a side of chips. There are sodas on that cabinet and over there you might even find some of that ‘cookie stuff’ you like that much…”

“You mean cookie dough? Am I really allowed to have cookie dough?!”

“Tch. Don’t say it like I never let you do it!”

“You don’t! You always lecture me about having junk food.”

“And yet that has never stopped you from doing so, has it?”

Aiichirou laughed and Rin couldn’t help his own self-satisfied smile.

“But I _do_ listen to you, Senpai!”

 “Yeah, right.” Rin rolled his eyes mockingly. “Listen, I’m going downstairs to turn on the heating, okay?”

“Mhm. Should I still make some tea?”

“Yeah, tea would be nice.”

 

~*~*~

 

They had a lot to get done before tomorrow’s evening, all related to the house being in proper visiting conditions for when his relatives arrived. Rin however had no intention of starting any of this until tomorrow. He just made a cursory round on the big house to turn the radiators on and make sure there wasn’t anything that needed his urgent attention, before heading back downstairs.

They turned on the TV and sat on the couch with foodtrays on their laps, making a mess of exchanging halves of their pizzas so that each could have a taste of both. Aiichirou ended up eating all of Rin’s chips and Rin allowed himself to have more than one soda. Then they laid back to watch the rest of the series. Halfway through the fourth episode, though, Aiichirou dozed off.

Rin got up and took the plates back to the kitchen, turned the lights off and went back to the entryway to retrieve their bags. He pondered about waking Aiichirou up but his heart decided against it. Instead, he took their luggage upstairs, pulled a couple of blankets out of the linen closet and made his way back down.

He placed the warmest blanket over Aiichirou and lingered over his sleeping form for a while, heart beating fast as he considered  giving into the impulse of running his hand through his hair.   Some sort of weird energy had been gradually building up between them. And Rin, although admitedly terrified, was just as eager to let it break free. He contented himself with wrapping the blanket around him tighter and made his way to the other side of the unit. He laid down, idly changing the channels untill he got bored and fell asleep.

 

~*~*~

 

Then Aiichirou was calling his name.

“Rin-senpai…Rin-senpai…”

“Mhm?”

He sounded faraway, but that was impossible because Rin could also feel the gentle shake of his wrist under the other boy’s fingers. He opened his eyes groggily and quickly raised his head in alertness.

“S-sorry to wake you…”

“…’ssokay, Ai. What is it? You ‘kay?”

“Yeah, I’m just…cold.”

Rin acknowledged his answer with a grunt and pushed himself off the couch.

“It’s alright. I’ll get you another blanket.”

“H-Hold on!”

“Mmwhat?”

Rin stopped  rubbing his eyes in mid motion as he noticed Aiichirou slowly scooting all the way to the back and pulling  his blanket shakily aside.

“I was thinking, we could just… share.”

He clumsily reached back to grab his own blanket and moved forward as in a dream. Because, evidently this couldn’t be anything but.  Admittedly, it woudn’t be the first time…

Something was a bit off, though. Dreams like these usually consisted of non-chronological figments during which they immediately jumped into heated action. Not that Rin felt any less willing with the current scenario, of course.

He climbed next to him and wrapped his arms around Aiichirou’s slender frame, burying his face on his neck and breathing his scent out in a satisfied sigh.

“Youssmell wonderful, Ai…”

He felt Aiichirou shiver in his arms.

“Still cold?”

Rin diligently rubbed his upper arm, gradually slowing down until Aiichirou relaxed under his touch and brought his hands to rest upon his shoulders. The slight shift in position made Rin’s arm fell idly over the boy’s side, and he took to lazily running his hand all the way from the start of his hip, up to a few inches below his armpit. Soon enough Aiichirou was reciprocating by  gingerly brushing his fingertips over Rin’s exposed collar bones.

They listlessly touched each other like that for a while, until Rin’s body stirred to a more wakeful state. The sudden awareness not having been brought by the tactile sensation of Aiichirou’s teasing fingers on his neck, but by his irregular heavy breathing against Rin’s chest.

He figured then, he shouldn’t even bother with supressing his own pleased grunts anymore and brought his hand to the  bare patch of skin between Aiichirou’s pants and his t-shirt. The latter immediately reacted, arching his back with a moan and languidly pressing their bodies closer together.  Driven by the sweet sound, Rin allowed his his fingers to slip under the fabric tracing small circles on his way up and eventually deciding to go down, instead.

Aiichirou’s mouth parted  with a sweet noise, he buried his fingers in the hair of Rin’s nape and tugged delicatedly, coaxing a ragged sound from Rin’s throat before he could help it.

They looked drowsily at each other; chests heaving and bodies shaking.

“Ai…”

“Mmh?”

“Want you so badly…”

Aiichirou brushed their lips together with a soft whine and Rin quickly took his mouth in a sudden sloppy movement. The other boy tasted sharply of desire and Rin plunged his tongue deeper, desperately chasing for more. His whole body ignited with want; he kicked the covers aside and pressed Aiichirou even further into the back of the couch.

After that, he lost all trace of thought. The only thing on his mind rubbing their bodies together harder and faster and more. And Rin kept chasing Aiichirou’s mouth partly because he couldn’t help it and mostly to prevent himself from spilling out just how damn much he loved him.

Then he abruptly came, feeling absolutely helpless at how he hadn’t even been able to anticipate it. He felt himself shaking, both from the aftershocks and a sort of exhilarating terror at the intensity of his own feelings.

He pushed away feeling uneasy and overwhelmed but  Aiicihirou was immediately  there. He cupped his face and whispered something really sweet against his lips. Rin felt his heart swelling and held on to him, burrying his face in his chest and basking in the warmth of his loving touch.

He remember vaguely thinking this had undisputably been the best dream he had ever had…

 

Except that it hadn’t been a dream at all.

 

Next day, as Rin opened his eyes to the sight of Aiichirou curled up beside him and became aware of the grime sensation down his pants, it became pretty clear that he had _actually_ had sex with Aiichirou in his sleep. Unconsensual sex for all he knew. And before he could think any better of it, he clumsily stepped off the couch and left the house in a hurry.

 

~*~*~

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was not like Rin was running away from his problems. Walking around the property had been part of the scheduled tasks from the start. Of course, the original plan had included Aiichirou, to show him around and all… Then again refering back to The Original Plan was rather useless in the light of recent events.

Once again, it was not like Rin regretted what had happened between them. It just wasn’t supposed to have happened like that.  Sex with Aiichirou had been intended to happen eyes wide open and full consent. Even more, sex with Aiichirou had been intended to happen after Rin had confessed his feelings to him first!

As of right now, Rin had no choice but to go ahead and do exactly just that. It made him feel upset and terribly anxious because by doing so, he was sacrificing yet _one more_ thing that he had intended to do differently. “Friends, Confession, Kissing, Sex”, as opposed to “Sex!, Confession…, Kissing?, Friends?”

Still, as anticlimatic and unromantic as confessing in such a situation was, any other course of action risked ruining things between them permanently. That is if they weren’t already ruined after Rin had been idiotic enough to walk out on Aiichirou without a word after they just had sex.

He turned to look  at the house with a heavy groan and forced himself to go back, all the while trying to swallow the burning knot in his throat without much success.

 

~*~*~

 

He pushed the entrance door open and unceremoniously marched into the TV room.

“Ai? Ai, I need to talk to you!”

Only the place was empty. The blankets had been neatly folded over the couch and there was no sign of the other boy.

Rin’s heart skipped a beat in panic. Had Aiichirou left? Had he been upset enough to walk back to town and take the train home? He rushed back to the entrance with all the intention of chasing after him, but then he saw him sitting behind the breakfast bar; headphones on and browsing through a magazine.

“Oh God, Ai!”

The boy became aware of his presence and pulled his earphones off.

“Ah! Good morning, Senpai!”

He had already changed and showered, and for some ridiculous reason, Rin couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about his own state of disarray.

“You’re up…”

His eyes set distractedly on the plate of toast and the glass of milk in front of him.

“Yeah, I made some breakfast, too. I hope it’s okay-”

“Of course it’s okay, Ai.” He repeated tiredly “I told you already: _make yourself at home_!”

“I-I was going to say, I hope it’s okay that I already ate…”

“Oh…” Rin paused uneasy “Well that’s fine too...”

“It’s just that…Well, I-I wasn’t sure when were you going to come back…”

Aiichirou nervously averted his eyes and Rin let out a shaky sigh, bracing himself to face the unavoidable.

“Listen, Ai. About last night-”

“Ah, yes! S-Sorry for the trouble! I didn’t mean to fall asleep on the couch.”

Rin chuckled lightly at Aiichirou’s peculiar sense of propriety.

“It’s _fine_. We had a long trip and we were tired.”

“Exactly! And yet you still had to do the dishes and take my luggage upstairs. And since I didn’t sleep in my bed you had to give me yourblanket. Weren’t you cold without it?”

Rin frowned a bit at Aiichirou’s reply.

“No…?”

“Oh, that’s good then! The room must be very warm! I’m certainly looking forward to sleeping there tonight!”

Rin blinked in utter disconcert as an uneasy feeling spread over his chest and settled heavily in his stomach. Aiichirou didn’t remember.

“Senpai? Is everything okay?”

His concerned look brought Rin back to his senses.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just hungry” He reached out for a piece of toast and took a bite. “I’m gonna go upstairs and get changed, okay?”

He exited the kitchen and climbed the stairs as in daze. He was also feeling a bit light-headed but, that was probably just  the sensation of having something huge been lifted off his chest.

This was good. This was very good, actually.  Some mysterious grace in the universe had extended him the courtesy of Aiichirou not remembering last night’s mistake. In addition, he had even been spared of having to confess his feelings in a such rushed out way. This was great!  It gave him the chance to pretend it didn’t happen and go back to The Original Plan: Friends, Confession, Kissing, Sex.  He took a refreshing breath and stepped into the shower, full of optimism about this new discovery.

Yet, somehow he didn’t manage to feel any better. If anything, with each passing second he felt even worse. It was as if a piece of his heart had just fallen out of place, and was currently being replaced with clumps of anxiety. _How could Aiichirou not remember_?

Rin’s unnerving thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of excited voices coming from below. He finished throwing on his shirt and rushed downstairs, running a small towel over his still dripping hair.

He all but missed the last step when he noticed his mother carrying some parcels on her way to the living room. Then he turned in the opposite direction at the sound of Gou’s voice animatedly chatting with Aiichirou near the entrance.

“Gou?”

“Oh! Onii-chan!” she sprinted happily in his direction.

“What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t getting here until tonight?”

“They ended up giving me the day off at work” His mother replied as she removed her gloves and joined them at the base of the stairs “Thankfully, because there are a lot of things to do!”

“I know. That’s why Ai and I got here a day earlier in the first place...”

His mother gave him a knowing smile as she casted a furtive glance at Aiichirou who was standing a couple of feet away. Rin turned his head to the side before she could see him blush.

“I’m sorry, dear.” She mumbled leaning in to hug him “But look at it this way, you’ll get more free time for the two of you to actually _be_ with each other instead of spending it doing chores.”

“Tch. It is nothing like that! I-I just wanted to show you that I can handle this. I have everything under control!”

“Alright, alright.” she conceded placing a kiss on his cheek. “Again, _I’m sorry_. Now go help your sister unload the car.”

 

~*~*~

 

Saying that he had everything under control had of course been a huge overstatement and Rin knew it. Still, the house was fine and his mother didn’t need to know about him struggling to cope with Aiichirou’s rejection.

As of for now, he felt upset and didn’t want to be with him. So maybe his mother and sister having arrived earlier wasn’t too bad afterall. It gave him the perfect excuse to avoid Aiichirou altogether.

For the first few hours, it had actually turned out to be easier than he thought. His mother had driven them 20 minutes to the city to buy groceries .The supermarket had been brimming with people, and even after splitting up to save some time, it had taken them forever to finish their shopping and get out.

Additionally, from the moment they had left the house, Gou had been talking to Aiichirou practically non-stop. Which went on as they pulled over at a dinner to have a very late lunch. Surely, Rin hadn’t really felt like talking to Aiichirou just yet, but he had still resented when the boy followed after his sister and sat at her side of the booth instead. By the time the food had gotten there, his mother had joined their conversation too, leaving Rin feeling moody and left out.

When they left he noticed Aiichirou shyly trying to call his atention, Rin of course blatantly ignored him. He still made sure to get in the back seat with him, though; even if it was just to continue the silent treatment all the way back home.

Worst part was, he _knew_ he was being unreasonable. Was it really so bad that Aiichirou had forgotten? Rin himself had thought it all to be a dream until this morning... He stole a sideways glance, and felt sick with eagerness at the sight of Aiichirou’s profile against the sunset light that filtered through the window.

Once they got home, things became pretty hectic. They spent the whole evening running around the house doing endless chores and the more they did the more it seemed that needed to be done.  They were a little more than halfway through it when the doorbell rang and from what he could hear on his way down it seemed like his mother’s youngest sister had arrived.

Gou appeared out of nowhere then and all but shoved the box she was taking to the basement in his arms, as she hurriedly went to greet her favorite aunt. Rin was about to protest, when he noticed there were two other women accompanying her. He didn’t really felt like making acquaintances right now. With a resigned sigh he decided to just take the box to the basement instead.

 

~*~*~

 

He was just coming upstairs when his mother intercepted him.

“ _There_ you are! Dear, take these to the blue room, please?”

Rin looked at the pair of unfamiliar suitcases and frowned in confusion.

“But, that’s _our_ room…”

“Whose room?”

“Nitori’s and mine. We are staying in that room.”

He didn’t miss the way his mother’s eyebrows raised at the use of the other boy’s last name, but apparently she let it slide in the face of more urgent matters.

“Right! Uhm… well, there’s been a change of plans. Aiichirou-kun and you are changing rooms with your aunt Miyaka.”

“What? You’re sending us to the wooden room?!”

“Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“It only has _one_ bed!”

“Well, take out a futon.”

“ _There aren’t any left_!”

His mother sighed visibly tense.

“What do you want me to do, Rin? Everywhere else is full! There’s three of them and two of you. I’m giving them the two singles, and I’m sure you and Aiichirou will manage with one. You’re _roomates,_ for crying out loud!”

Rin wanted to remind her that, unlike these ladies, Aiichirou and him weren’t unexpected guests and shouldn’t be treated as such. Instead, he angrily seized the suitcases and stomped his way upstairs seething with frustration. Now he had to find Aiichirou and discuss the fact that they were going to share a bed, _again_. Except that this only applied to him, for Aiichirou couldn’t be bothered with remembering such insignificant things as they having slept together. He decided it was better not to mention anything just yet.

 

~*~*~

 

By dinner time, two more of his mother’s siblings had arrived with their respective families. The house felt too full and noisy with the laughter and excitement of his younger cousins, and that only aggravated his sour mood.

He wanted nothing more than to be back on speaking terms with Aiichirou, but after having sulked for almost an entire day he just didn’t know how to approach him. In any case, he decided he had had enough and made up his mind to reconcile with him during supper.

Except that his sister took the only  available space beside him, leaving Rin no choice but to sit at the other end of the table and steal the occasional glance at Aiichirou as he sullenly pushed his food around the plate.

Aiichirou and Gou talked for what seemed hours, not minding Rin in the very least. Not that he didn’t deserve it after he had purposefully been a jerk to Aiichirou during the whole day. Still, that didn’t mean Aiichirou’s indiferent treatment didn’t hurt him. He tried to be patient and ignore it as much as he could, but then Gou squeezed Aiichirou’s hand and they both laughed obnoxiously about something.

Rin raised from his seat abruptly deciding he was no longer hungry.

He took his plate to the kitchen and resolved to go to bed early in order to put an end to this awful day already. But then his mother entered the kitchen precariously balancing a pile of dirty dishes and Rin couldn’t help but took the load of her hands without saying anything. His mother gave him a conciliatory smile.

“Rin…you don’t have to do this, dear.”

“I don’t mind.”

His mother placed a kiss on his cheek. Rin grunted appreciatively as he diligently turned the tap on.

 

~*~*~

 

“Oniichan! Here you are!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Rin noticed his sister putting down some plates and casually hoisting herself up to sit on the counter.

“Aiichirou-kun and I were wondering where were you…”

He slowly turned to glare at her in disbelief. Gou of course, was too busy babbling about whatever she and Aiichirou had been talking about and leisurely braiding the ends of her hair to take any notice.

“…In any case, it’s really nice to have him around. Also, I couldn’t help but notice, this is the very first time you’ve invited someone over…”

“Sousuke has been here every summer.” He cut in bitterly.

“Well, yeah, so has Chigusa. But that’s different, Sousuke-kun is your best friend. What I mean is…”

Rin knew exactly what she meant, but he’d be damned if he was going to give her the satisfaction.

“Say, Onii-chan…” she hopped off the counter and approached him from behind “I’ve been meaning to ask you… is Aiichirou-kun your boyfriend?”

“So that’s what’s this about.” He harshly set a plate on the dish rack without even bothering to look at her “You want my permission to date him?”

“What, No! I’m not interested in him that way!”

“Really? Because one would think the exact opposite, considering the foolish way you’re acting around him.”

Rin noticed her recoiling at his venomous tone before a hurt expression set on her face.

“That’s ridiculous! I would never do that to you, you’re my _brother_ …”

He realized Gou was trying to hold back her tears, and turned his attention back to the dishes instead.

“Besides, I like someone else.” she added quickly. “I just wanted to make him feel welcomed! I’m sorry that you got upset.”

She hastened out of the kitchen with a sob.

 

~*~*~

 

Rin felt both guilty and curious about what his sister had just said, but right now  he couldn’t possibly afford to add Gou’s mysterious love interest to his own pile of conflicts just yet.

One more thing he couldn’t possibly afford wasting time on, was the silly board game that the children and some adults had currently gathered around to play, and he told his persistent uncle as much, albeit using different words.

But then he noticed the empty space next to Aiichirou who smiled at him warmly and scooted a little to the side offering him more space. In that moment Rin couldn’t possibly think of anything more important than sitting beside him. All the time during the game Rin remained in an elated state, thankful for the frequent times their legs bumped under the table and their shoulders brushed against each other.

Some indefinite time later most of the children started yawning and rubbing their eyes. One of the adults suggested to call it a night and Rin decided it was the perfect opportunity to excuse themselves. He gently nudged Aiichirou’s shoulder, motioning for him to follow after.

They made their way to the second floor in an anticipating silence. Rin hadn’t been able to spend one minute with Aiichirou during the day, let alone talk to him. He couldn’t help wondering about his reaction to the new accommodations… When they reached the top and Aiichirou made his way to the left, Rin’s stomach tensed.

“Wait…” he grabbed Aiichirou’s arm rather tenderly and noticed the boy blushing under his touch. Rin nervously let go.

“We-uh, we’ve been moved to a different room. Aunt Miyaka brought unexpected company and… Well, now we’re up on the third floor.”

“That’s, alright. I don’t mind. I’ll just get my stuff-”

“I already got it for you.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks…”

Rin nodded and led the way upstairs.

Their new room was located behind the third door on the left, and it was normally reserved for people who visited unaccompanied, (which _clearly_ wasn’t Rin’s case, not that anyone had minded). So, without really having any choice, he reached out for the doorknob and stepped inside trying to seem carefree and oblivious to the sleeping arrangement.

And apparently so did Aiichirou, because even though Rin could almost swear he had heard the other boy utter a mortified gasp, he had immediately moved on to praising the old boat pictures hanging from the wall.

From then on, it had all been Aiichirou prattling non-stop about even the most insignificant room detail, whereas the matter of the bed, remained unaddressed by them both. Rin wasn’t sure if he was feeling relieved or upset about this, but it hardly even mattered.  It had been a very long day and he was extremely tired. As his mother had said, he and Aiichirou would just have to make do.

 

~*~*~

 

They didn’t at all.

His normally peaceful roomate had clearly chosen that particular night to be a real pain in the ass. He tossed and turned, unceremoniously dropping his arms over Rin’s face and kicking his legs. Pushing him further and further to the corner of the bed.

Worse than his violent streak, though, was his loving one. He threw himself at Rin and rubbed his cheek against his neck, happily mumbling to himself and making a mess of their limbs just to suddenly pull back taking all the covers with him.

More than once, Rin considered leaving the bed to find some peace elsewhere, but the mere idea of Aiichirou waking up and finding Rin gone had him quietly lying back next to him.

This lasted the whole night, and when he heard the faint song of the rooster he was certain he was about to cry. Eventually, exhaustion got the best of him and he gave into sleep with Aiichirou stubbornly clinging to his back.

Barely a few minutes later, his half-asleep brain registered the insistent noise of running footsteps and giggling coming from the floor below. Rin however, refused to acknowledge anything but the warm presence between his arms.  He squeezed himself closer to Aiichirou’s back and buried his nose in his neck, letting out a soft pleasing sound at the faint smell of fabric softener on the other’s boy shirt…

And then he definitely jolted awake. Eyes blinking wildly at the shocking realization that even after all of last night’s restraint he had still ended up with his hand up Aichirou’s shirt.  He frantically scooted back and jumped off the bed not even noticing the other boy stirring awake.

Rin was already at the door, when he caught sight of Aiichirou’s sleepy face looking at him questioningly over his shoulder. He left the room nonetheless.

 

~*~*~


	3. Chapter 3

Three laps around the property later Rin wasn’t feeling particularly better. If anything he had only piled tiredness, sweat and hunger on top of his frustration. He leaned his back against the bark of a tree and slid down resting his head on his palms.

What on earth was wrong with him? Why would he repeat the very same mistake that had made the previous day unbearable and make it even worse by actually hurting Aiichirou this time? Why did this keep happening? He had but the best intentions and yet everything was turning out all wrong!

He groaned and slammed his fist to the ground, eyes burning and chest tightnening at the unfairness of  it all: his careful planning being thrown to the gutter because of a stupid impulse, his emotions always managing to get the best of him, Aiichirou being so bright and perfect, Rin lacking the social skills to properly cherish him, and specially; Rin being so helplessly in love…

He couldn’t help but think that after all this mess, not even the intense and precious feelings he had for Aiichirou would be enough to earn his forgiveness...

As if that thought wasn’t mortifying enough on his own, he watched from afar some of his relatives animatedly climbing inside a van. His sister was among them and so was Aiichirou; and although he was not carrying any luggage, Rin still felt a funny feeling clawing at his chest.   He immediately stood up and sprinted back to the house.

 ~*~*~

 

“Rin? What are you doing here, dear? I thought you were joining the others…”

He stepped into the kitchen with as much dignity as he could muster and approached the table.

“I was running  laps. Where did they all go to anyways?”

“Uncle Kei arrived early this morning, he mentioned he had stuff to do in town and they ended up splitting into several cars so that everyone could go. I don’t think they’ll take long though, he said they’d be back for lunch. ”

As his suspicions got confirmed, Rin abandoned all pretense of nonchalance and let himself fall on the chair with a groan. His mother raised her eyes from the tangerines she was peeling, and set them on his weary face.

“Is everything okay, dear?”

Rin replied with a tired grunt.

“It’s been a bit hard these days, huh? There’s been so much to do, and so many people hanging around that you’ve barely had time to enjoy yourselves. Has Aiichirou seen the barn yet? Why don’t the two of you go over there this evening?”

“I don’t think he’d want to…”

“Why not? Is something wrong? Are you guys fighting?”

Rin shrugged.

“Well, I guess _that_ explains the lovesick puppy look on your face...”

“Mom!”

She reached out to grab his hand before Rin could leave.

"Aiichirou-kun has that exact same look , you know? Just talk to him. You can’t possibly spend the holidays like this!”

He sat back down with a non-comital grunt and reached out to help with the tangerines.

“… so what’s for breakfast?”

~*~*~

 

Rin ended up having a copious breakfast, and after such, it was hard not to feel his spirits lifting up a bit.

Under a positive light, it was actually a good thing to have some time to shower and change before talking to Aiichirou. Even more, after yeterday’s rough night and today’s strenous running he was feeling rather sleepy. He decided to lay down for a bit and take a nap; spend the time before Aiichirou came back without getting into anymore unexpected trouble. 

When he woke up, however, it was already dark, and for a moment he wasn’t exactly sure where he was or what was going on. It wasn’t until his eyes landed on the wall clock hat he realized Aiichirou must have gotten back hours ago.

He jumped out of the bed, hurriedly grabbing a sweatshirt and tying his hair back as he made his way downstairs; palms sweating and heart beating wildly... only to find out Aiichirou was nowhere to be seen. 

 

~*~*~

“Mom? Mom!” 

The kitchen was packed with people making dinner preparations, yet his mother spotted him immediatly and gave him a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry dear…”

“They’re not back _yet_?”

“Your sister called a few hours ago to let me know they headed to the lake after town. They shouldn’t be long now… Rin? Rin, wait. Where are you going?”

He stormed off the kitchen, chest burning in fury as he made his way to the basement.

Here he was brooding on every little detail and making himself sick with nerves, while Aiichirou had been perfectly content with just brushing him off during the _whole day_.  Not anymore though, they were through, and he was going to ride all the way down to the lake to tell Aiichirou that much.

Still, half a mile and some small mishaps later, Rin decided it was much too dark to safely follow his usual shortcut through the forest. Afterall, Aiichirou didn’t necessarily have to be informed that they were through for them to be. Rin was perfectly capable of brining it about on his own.

But then, after having grumpily pushed his bike all the way back to the house and two more hours of Aiichirou still not showing up, his anger was gradualluy replaced by guilt,  guilt was subsequently replaced by fear; and Rin _did_ start worrying about the boy.

He was about to hop on his bike and try the shortcut again when he finally heard the faraway chatting of his younger cousins as they stepped inside the house. Rin froze for the tiniest moment before hurriedly making his way inside.

 ~*~*~

 

Sure enough there he was, laughing merrily and surrounded by what looked like _all the damn children_ in Rin’s family. One of them going as far as piggybacking him, which for some reason made Rin’s short lived moment of relief immediately turn into anger.

“Where on earth have you been?”

He had been careful not to raise his voice but Aiichirou still startled as if he had.

“We went to the lake!”  Rin’s little cousin Ami offered as she precariously clung onto Aiichirou’s back. Rin decidedly ignored her and set his eyes on Aiichirou waiting for an answer.

“I was at the lake-”

“Why? What were you doing with them in the first place?”

The harsh sound of his voice called the attention of some of his relatives. Aiichirou however was hardly listening to him in favor of  keeping the girl steady on his back. 

 

“Listen, if you don’t want to be with me just say so! Why did you even came here for, anyways?!”

The child chose that exact moment to playfully yank at Aiichirou’s hair.

“A-Ami-chan, wait!”

“God damn it! JUST PUT HER DOWN ALREADY!”

“RIN!”

He abruptly turned around at his mother’s stern call, just to find out the whole family had gathered around and was looking at them with concern.

Aiichirou shakily set the little girl down.

“Aiichirou Onii-chan!” 

Gou came out of nowhere and gently took her out of the way.

“Ami-chan, why don’t you come with me for a while?”

“But I want to play with Aiichirou Onii-chan!”

“I know, but he played with you all the time while we were the lake. It’s Rin Onii-chan’s turn to play with him now, okay?”

The girl gave her a sour look and ran off whimpering sadly.

Rin scoffed and left the room, making sure to bump Aiichirou’s shoulder brusquely on his way out.

 ~*~*~

 

He did wonder for the briefest moment if Aiichirou would actually follow after him, but the moment they set foot on the backyard he felt the other boy reaching for his arm and pulling it back.

“What the hell, _Nitori_?”

Aiichirou’s messed up face made Rin regret his words immediately.

He was all red, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes and Rin had never seen such a hurt expression on his face. He froze in fear, unsure about what to do when Aiichirou started screaming at him.

“Why would you say that? How- How could-”

Rin noticed he was having a hard time breathing and reached out to put his arms on his shoulders.  “ Ai? Ai, are you okay?”

The boy shook his head.

“Ai, please calm down you’re gonna hurt yourself”

Aiichirou jerked away from his touch but Rin held onto him firmly, pushing his bangs away from his face and forcing the other boy to look at him as he instructed him to breath deeply.

 

“I- I do want to be with you! I came here because I wanted to be with you!”

“O-Okay, okay I believe you…”

“And it’s not like I wanted to go to the lake by myself,… you _left_!”

 

He had dreaded hearing the words from the start,  but added up to Aiichirou's state of overexcitement they were more than devastating. 

 

“I-I just needed time to think, I didn’t mean to-”

“You did it _twice_!”

Rin opened his eyes wide, his indignation momentarily returning.

“So you _do_ remember about the other time!”

“ _Of course_ I do!”

“Why didn’t you said anything, then?! Why did you let me believe you forgot?”

“We did it and then you left without a word! What was I supposed to do?”

“No, Ai. I didn’t want to leave you, I swear! It was a terrible mistake-”

“ _You_ _did it twice_!”

“I know. I know Ai, I’m sorry.”

He gingerly put his arms around him and brought him down to sit on the grass. For a long moment all Rin could hear were Aiichirou’s painful sobs against his chest and it felt like he was being punched in the gut over and over again.

 

“Listen, Ai. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen...”

Aiichirou nodded and turned his face away in anguish.

“I know. You already said it was a mistake...”

“No! No.” He took a deep breath “Listen to me, it’s not like that. I mean, yes- I still think it was a mistake, but only because of the way we did it, not because we did...”

Aiichirou looked at him hesitantly and didn’t say anything for a while. He had finally stopped crying and Rin dared entertain the possibility that they were finally going to patch things up.

 

“Listen, Ai. I want you to know, _it is very important for me that you know_ , that I didn’t bring you here with that intention. I didn’t invite you to the family holiday to… _do that._ I honestly  just wanted us to have a nice time together and have fun as friends. You’re very important to me-”

And Rin didn’t undestand what but he must’ve said something really terrible because Aiichirou hid his face behind his arms and began shaking uncontrolably again.

“Ai? Ai, no! Please, why are you crying?”

He tried to reach for his shouder but Aiichirou pulled back.

“This is all my fault, Senpai.”

“What?”

“I-I ruined everything. I took advantage of your hospitality and acted selfishly when I asked you to share the couch with me- ”

“No, stop!” He kneeled down infront of him and placed his hands over the other boy’s knees. “Ai, look at me. That’s _not_ what I meant at all, if anything it’s the _exact opposite_! _I_ shouldn’t have-"

But Aiichirou was not listening, he hastily stood up and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt.  

 

“Ai? Ai, wait, where are you going?”

“I’m gonna ask your mom to take me to the station. I’m going home, Senpai. ”

“WHAT? No! Why?!”

Aiichirou bowed curtly and tried to put a on a bright smile on his face, he didn’t manage though and the result was heartbreaking.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you.”

“What are you talking about?! There’s no trouble, _I don’t want you to go_!”

Rin clumsily got to his feet, anxiously watching as Aiichirou made his way back to the house.

“Ai! Ai, please!”

He chased after him, mouth going dry and  heart crushing at the thought of losing him forever. He seized his wrist and pulled back desperately.

“Ai, Please don’t go! I LOVE YOU!”

 

Aiichirou did stop then.

 

He turned to look at Rin and stood very still, a lost deer expression plastered on his face.

 

“Boys!”

Rin all but jumped out of his skin at the sound of his mother’s voice.

 

“What’s going on? Are you two still fighting?”

He spared a quick glance at Aiichirou. Before turning to look back at her. Eyes widening in disbelief as he tried to remember any other moment in his life during which he had felt more embarrassed than this.

"Come here.The two of you, now!”

Aiichirou immediately went forward, and Rin had no choice but to follow after him.

 

“Alright, what’s the problem? What’s going with you two?”

Aiichirou twisted the hem of his shirt nervously. Rin stubbornly refused to acknowledge her.

“N-Nothing, Kaede-san it’s fine we’ve… we’ve already made up. Right, Senpai?”

When Rin felt her eyes fall on him questioningly he shrugged at her boldly.

“I see… Aiichirou-kun do you mind waiting inside? I need to speak to Rin for a while.”

“O-Okay” Aiichirou threw a hesitant look at him before he disappeared inside.

She immediately turned to Rin.

“Kitchen. Now.”

He gritted his teeth and reluctantly followed her inside.

 ~*~*~

 

Rin hadn’t expected his previous public outburst not to have any consecuences. But now he was certainly not in the mood for a lecture and decided it was better to admit defeat. 

“Look. I’m sorry, okay. I will apologize to everyone, I promise. Can’t we do this later though? We were sort of in the middle of something…”

“Oh, I noticed that, alright!”

He groaned dragging his feet into the kitchen. His mother picked up a cooler and then headed to the laundry room. 

“I already apologize to him, you know?”

She took a couple of blankets out of the hamper and placed them over the cooler for all answer. Rin blinked at her in astonishment.

“ _This_ is your soultion? Exiling me from the house?!”

“There’s enough food and water in there for the two of you.” She added a flashlight on top of the pile “Now, go to the barn. I’ll send him right after.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You two go over there and don’t come back until you’ve fixed things up. No- Rin, I don’t want to hear it. Whatever it is, tell it to him instead. You’ve been all about this trip fo the last two months, and now that we’re finally here you barely talk to each other! I know it’s been a bit messy with all these people around, so go to the barn. No one will bother you there.”

Rin actually hesitated between staying and arguing his case or just going along with what she said and save himself any further embarrassement. He decided for the latter. 

 

~*~*~


	4. Chapter 4

“Senpai? Are you there?”

Rin practically leaped to the door. He had only been waiting for half an hour at the most, but it had definitely felt like more. 

“Yes, come in! Just be careful with-”

But Aiichirou was already crossing the treshold, and as predicted his foot had caught on the lower border  causing him to trip over.

“UWAH!”

Rin quickly reached out for him, placing his hands under the other boy’s elbows.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” He replied rubbing at his shin. “Don’t worry. It’s just a scratch, Senpai.”

Aiichirou gave him a small smile and Rin flushed at the realization that he was holding him. He clumsily let go and brushed past him to close the door.

“Sorry about that door. It happens all the time.”

“It’s fine…”

 

They didn’t say anything for a while. He knew he should, but he was afraid of saying something stupid that would make them fight again. Instead, he leaned against the door watching Aiichirou nervously twist the flaslight in his hands.

“Uhm, your mom told me to come here. She said you were waiting for me…” He raised his eyes to him briefly, an arm across his chest, his hand grasping the opposite sleeve, uneasy with nerves and completely unguarded. 

Rin felt himself consumed by the need to hold him in his arms and protect him from any harm.

“I… I’m sorry, Ai. I’m so sorry about everything... ”

“I-It’s alright, Senpai!” he hurriedly jumped in “Really. Please, don’t mention it anymore. I just… I don’t want us to fight anymore. I want to go back to the way things were before...”

 

His heart twisted in pain at the stab of rejection. Somehow he had still expected Aiichirou to reciprocate his feelings. Then again, taking into account just how badly Rin had fucked up, being able to remain friends with Aiichirou was certainly more than enough. 

“Of course, Ai. Consider it done.” He extended his hand at him. “Friends?”

"Uhm..." Aiichirou gave him a nervous look and for a moment it looked like he really needed to say something... In the end he settled with shaking his hand, a shy smile on his face. 

Rin figured out it was better to break the ice before things got really uncomfortable.

“So… are you hungry?”

Aiichirou nodded eagerly. 

“Good, because there’s a lot of food in here...”

“Oh! So that’s why we’re here for? We’re camping out here?”

“Yeah, you could say so...” he vacilated a little “Only if you want to, of course...”

“Of course, I do! This place is pretty cool! What is this place, though…?”

Rin chuckled as he opened the food containers and passed Aiichirou his share.

 “This used to be an old barn. My mom and her twin brother, uncle Kei, used to play around this place a lot when they were younger. They liked it so much, they even spent the nights here during the summer…”

“Oh...is that the reason for the glass ceiling then?”

“Maybe…”Rin reached out for his cellphone to look at the time. “You’ll see in a while...”

Aiichirou raised his eyebrows at him questioningly but Rin just gave him an enigmatic smile.

 

He then told him about his own summers spent here; with his sister and his best friend Sousuke. About how they would pretend this place was a pirate ship, a ruined castle, a deserted island… how they used to spend the nights here too, and how this place had become as important for him as it had been for his mother before. 

“And, this place didn’t have a roof back then, you know?” Rin commented as he offered him half dipped chocolate tangerines. 

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.  It was like that ever since my grandparents got the property. The ceiling is practically new, it was built in three years ago.”

“But why the glass?”

“Be patient, Ai.” Rin teased him as he moved the food containers out of the way “I’ll tell you this much, though. After the glass, they added the solar heating to be able to use it during the winter…”

“And the garden lights to use it during the night?”

 “Yeah,” Rin replied  as he stood up, cellphone in hand “but I’m about to turn them off now.”

“What?! Why?”

“What’s the matter, Ai?” Rin grinned at him. “You afraid of the dark?”

“I am _not_!” Aiichirou pouted defensively “It’s just, we won’t be able to see anything like that …”

“Well that’s sort of the point…”

“Huh?”

The room was plunged into darkness and Rin heard Aiichirou let out a hesitant sigh. He very quietly made his way back to the boy.

 

“Senpai…? Senpai, I can’t see anyth...WAHH!”

Rin had approached him from behind, pushing his hands over his shoulders to startle him. He laughed and ruffled his hair lightly.

“Senpai, that’s not funny!” Aiichirou protested but Rin could still hear the smile on his tone.  

“It’s fine. I’m right here beside you.” He sat very close to him and bumped their shoulders together, feeling his insides melt when Aiichirou snuggled closer to him in response.

“Now look, Ai. Look at the sky.”

 

Rin saw him crane his neck back and squint his eyes, unsure about what he was supposed to be looking at.

“I-I can’t see anything, Senpai. It’s too cloudy…”

Then, as Rin knew they would, the dusky clouds parted; and the sky became alight with thousands of stars shining brightly in the clear rural sky.

"“Rin-senpai!" Aiichirou let out a surprised gasp and reached out to squeeze Rin’s hand, overwhelmed by the sight."This-This is amazing!”

““Isn’t it?”  Rin squeezed back, smiling at the countless silver dots piercing through the midnight sky.

 “There are so many, and they’re all so bright!”

“It is always like this around this time of the night, the wind changes directions and blows the clouds away.” Rin gently pulled on the other boy’s hand letting himself fall back. “You can see it better if you lay down…”

Aiichirou followed, pressing himself close to Rin and firmly holding his hand.

 

“Senpai, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! I wish we could sleep here everynight!”

“We can, if you want to…”

“Really?!”

He turned to look at Aiichirou’s face, and said the next words the way he had intended to tell him "I love you" from the start.

“Yeah, anything you want, Ai.”  

The boy shifted and turned to look at him expectantly. 

“Anything, Senpai?”

He nodded unable to talk after having lost his voice somewhere in the vastness of Aiichirou’s eyes.

 

Aiichirou then pushed himself up and kneeled down, surprising Rin who barely managed to prop himself on his elbows.

“Rin-senpai, what I said a while ago, you didn't let me finish. I _do_ want things to be the way they were before, but I also want what happened between us in the couch, and... what you just told me in the backyard. Specially what you told me in the backyard because… I feel the same way.”

He then leaned forward hesitantly and brushed their lips together, breath shaky in anticipation at Rin’s reaction. Rin immediately pushed himself all the way up and took his hand to the back of Aiichirou’s neck as he sneaked the other one around his waist, bringing their lips together.  Aiichirou gasped into the kiss, and that small intake of breath went straight to Rin’s core unleashing all the want and need. He hungrily mouthed and licked at Aiichirou’s lips, feeling the other’s tongue gently probing at his own in response. Rin could still savor the traces of chocolate and citric on Aiichirou’s mouth, and the treat had never tasted  any better.

He pulled away for air and pressed their foreheads together, fingers tenderly stroking Aichirou’s cheekbones.

“Ai, are you sure about this?”

Aiichirou nodded and immediately took his hands to his hair, fingers curling around his locks to pull him back to his mouth as Rin’s hands possessively stroke over the small of his back, moving onto his sides and lingering on his belly. Aiichirou's kisses made something warm unfurl deep inside him, quickly turning into an ardent feeling that crawled all the way up to his neck. 

Next time they parted  Aiichirou slowly leaned back, not getting his eyes off Rin’s for a moment. His head hit the pillow and he lazily raised up his arms and thrust his hips softly in an inviting gesture. Rin felt his body burning  with overwhelming desire.

“Ai…”he cleared his throat trying to regain some control “Please don’t get me wrong. I just need to hear you say it…”

“Touch me anywhere you want, Senpai.”

 

Rin sttutered out a piteous sound and leaned down to kiss him again, his hands messily roaming all over his torso. He then pulled apart to yank at his own sweatshirt, taking his shirt along in the process, and urgently lowered himself back to press messy kisses all over Aiichirou’s  face making a path down to his throat…

Aiichirou gasped for air, his body arching under Rin’s touch as the latter mouthed his jaw and scrapped his teeth over his neck gently.

“T-The first time it happpened, I thought it was a dream” Aiichirou sobbed and threw his head back, burying his hands in his nape to guide Rin down his chest. “I do dream about that rather frequently… but then you left and I thought-”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ai. Let me make it up to you. Let me make it clear how much I want you.”

He shoved Aiichirou’s shirt up and reached down his pants to touch him over the soft fabric of his underwear. Aiichirou moaned, thrusting his hips shamelessly to rub himself against Rin’s hand.

“Oh… oh, Senpai!”

 

Aiichirou's cries further fueled the fire of his passion. He roughly pinned the boy's wrists with one hand while he kept fondling him with other. His mouth ghosting over the side of his exposed neck and shoulder all the way down to his chest.

Aiichirou violently jerked at the contact of Rin’s lips with his nipple and he shouted his name. 

“R-Rin!”

“Yes?” He purposefully nuzzled against it. “You like it here?”

He then pressed with his tongue, toying with the soft nub, alternating the licking with nibbling and sucking, making Aiichirou squirm under him.

“Rin-senpai, s-stop please. I-I’m gonna…”

Rin playfully flicked his tongue.

“What, Ai? What’s gonna happen?”

Aiichirou flushed all the way to his chest and turned his head to the side in embarrassement.

“I’ll finish too s-soon!”

“So? I’ll  just start you up all over again,...”

“Senpai!”

 Rin smiled at Aiichirou’s desperate whine.

 

“Alright,” he released his grasp on him  and brought Aiichirou’s  hand  between his legs.

“Here, you touch me too. You’ll have me coming in no time I promise.”

Aiichirou obliged and rubbed him a few times before frantically pushing the fabric to the side to close his fingers around Rin’s throbbing sex. Rin let out a grunt, body faltering, and he all but collapsed on top of the other boy.

“D-Damn it, Ai!”

“ What?” he feigned innocence “You want me stop?”

“Hell NO! D-Do it more…”

Aiichirou beamed at him and brought him down to a sloppy kiss, his hand proceeding to stroke fervently.

 

Rin openly moaned through the whole thing. Aiichirou jerking him felt absolutely amazing, and adding that up to the recent pent up tension between them, he knew it was only a matter of seconds before he came.

“Ai, Ai look at me…” he pleaded cupping his face, his other hand trapped between their pressed bodies as they desperately rutted against each other. 

"Rin-Senpai..." 

“I love you, Ai. I love you so much.”

Aiichirou threw his head back desperately clutching at the hair of his neck as he let out a soft broken sound. Rin followed closely after, falling on top of him and breathing heavily against his ear.

He was still not entirely down from his haze when Aiichirou clumsily craddled his face and whispered against his lips the words Rin had yearned to hear for so long. He broke into a sob that was followed by some others and Aiichirou lovingly kissed every tear away. They felt into a deep slumber, Rin holding on to him tightly and Aiichirou tenderly carding his hair.

 

~*~*~

 

He opened his eyes to the feeling of the sunlight hitting his cheek through the glass. The memories of last night making him feel a little bit more forgiving towards the offending morning. He couldn't help the smile on his face as he raised a tired arm to cover his eyes.

"Good morning, Senpai." Aiichirou blinked sweetly at him.

“Hey…” He stretched lazily pulling him closer. “You’re up…”

“And you’re still here…”

Rin chuckled patting his side lightly.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ai.”

“Good” he shifted to lock his arms around Rin’s neck in a mock stern gesture “because I’m not letting you go.”

 

“Really?” Rin arched an eyebrow and playfull poked at Aiichirou’s waist. Aiichirou insinctively jerked away .

“WAHH!”

“Where are you going, Ai?”

"N-Nowhere..."

Rin seized him with a swift movement and tickled his sides.

“Senpai! He broke into laughter releasing his neck and reaching down to push Rin’s hands off him. “S-Stop!”

“What? What is this? I thought you said you were not letting go…”

 

Aiichirou tried locking his arms around his neck again, kicking around and squirming under Rin’s attack. He ended up with one an arm around his neck and using the other to try and fend Rin off.

“I-It’s not fair” he breathed out.

“Tch.” He climbed on top of him and brought their lips together. “ _You_ ’re not fair!”

 

~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally BLED through the writing of this, but I'm glad I somehow finally pulled through.  
> Thank you so much to everyone for reading, liking and commenting! <3


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